I was dumb and bought a large preorder item with a credit card and trusted the seller to deliver.
It was supposed to come in a couple of months after I ordered but he kept telling me there were delays so I waited and didn't do anything (my mistake). This seller was US-based and had perfect, glowing feedback. He finally stopped responding to me and wouldn't give me a refund after a YEAR.
After 30 days, of course, eBay protection runs out. Then, the credit cards tell you 3-4 months and then you can't dispute. If I had used PayPal I would've had 6 months.
But I recently discovered you actually have up to 540 days after the purchase if you didn't receive your item. Here's the info below and applies at minimum to Visa/Mastercard:
"Consumers have 540 days from the date the transaction was processed to file a chargeback with the issuing bank if the reason for the chargeback is one of the following:
- Services not provided
- Merchandise not received, or received not as described, or defective merchandise"
Definitely check the fine print and apply it to your situation but I hope this helps someone who didn't get what they ordered and thought they were out of options.
